Everything listed under: Prepare

How to confidently create authentic relationships with your key industry!Success in the entertainment industry is all about creating and MAINTAINING relationships. But, how?Does going to networking events and feeling like you have to “sell” yourself freak you out, shut you down, or make you feel “icky” and inauthentic? As actors and creative souls, truth is so vital to our being that the networking piece, while so vital to getting the gigs... Read More...

Hello Accelerated Artists! Doug here with some great news. You’re allowed to make money at your craft. The work we bring into the world is crucial. We offer perspective. We inspire reflection. We bring our buyers from despair to elation and everywhere in between. Our craft is immense and our gift is

Ooooeeee, child! It’s fall. That seems like a perfect time of year to talk about the next acting life section: Playing the Ending. Playing the Ending is when an actor comes onto the playing space already in the emotional state of/or reacting to the world as if Read More...

Hello Accelerated Artists! Uncle Doug here with a very simple tip to enrich your business: Subscribe to The New Yorker. Yes, it’s true that the Shouts and Murmurs section at the beginning will enhance your own storytelling. Yes, it is also true that reading in-depth articles on topics outside of your usual form of artistic expression can only enhance the work you do, not to mention make you way more well-rounded in an agent interview. And the yessiest... Read More...

Good comedy takes serious focus. The biggest laughs come from focusing on Objectives (which I touched on more in depth earlier), and NOT from playing “this is the funny bit. You should laugh here!”When you step away from objectives and start telling the audience it’s time to laugh, then you’ve moved into playing for laughs.

Welcome back to my Acting/ Life 101 primer.So far, I have talked about Listening and Communication - two basic building blocks of the craft of acting AND having a successful, productive life.This week, I am talking about Given Circumstances.Depending on where you studied, Given circumstances can include a lot of different things, but generally speaking, it is comprised of Read More...

You know, I have been successful in a lot of avenues in my life. I have been an actor, a producer, a director, an artistic director, and a writer. I have been an athlete. I have been a world traveler. I have been a dancer and a business analyst and am now a coach. I mean,

Hello Business Owners!
Here comes part 3 of 3 of Business Lovin’ for our College Pros. Again, these actual questions are from the next generation of Accelerated Business Owners, my master class students at Shenandoah Conservatory and James Madison University.
Theme for this article: Promotion.
“I am a senior musical theatre student who is interested in pursuing film/tv performance, but have no experience, what are some next steps into that field?... Read More...

Hello Business Owners! Here comes part 2 of 3 of Business Lovin’ for our College Pros. Again, these actual questions are from the next generation of Accelerated Business Owners, my master class students at Shenandoah Conservatory and James Madison University.Theme for this article: your Product.“Should you alter your image/clothing style based on what others (truthfully) perceive you as so that you can be successful in the business?”Read More...

I am fortunate enough to have in my circle of friends Jonathan Flom of Shenandoah Conservatory and Kate Arecchi of James Madison University. They are part of the movement teaching business strategies at a collegiate level, and they are making amazing things happen.On several occasions, I have had the honor and privilege to work with one next generation of Accelerated Business Owners, and at the end of the three... Read More...

Happy New Year, Artist Friends!I know I know it’s almost February. I feel like this back to school month is just getting into full swing!A new year, a blank slate, a fresh beginning! Time to start looking ahead, right?Well, at this point in the year, I would like to take a moment to take a look back (a little more in depth than what Facebook did for us :) )Did you set a resolution last year? Read More...

You found a class with a casting director and paid for it. Boom - done!

Well, not exactly…

Paying to meet casting directors can be a great tool for actors to connect with their targeted network. It can also be a big waste of money. Nine times out of ten actors don’t take full advantage of these meetings. Time to change that!